New Order
by Soundspeed
Summary: A disturbance in Meltokio, an ancient secret, and a deadly new power capable of accomplishing unimaginable feats...with disastrous consequences. For a certain swordsman and summoner, it seems that sometimes peace doesn't come so easily. DISCONTINUED.
1. Looking Back

Namco owns all rights to _Tales of Symphonia_. I do not claim to own them. This work has been written without permission of any kind and is not intended for any form of profit whatsoever.

I guess it'd be kind of stupid to just launch into the story without any form of background information, so here goes. The plot takes place along the storyline of Sheena's ending in the game, to avoid any confusion with that. In addition, the timeframe for this is approximately three or four months after the game's conclusion. The exact time isn't really relevant, but that's the general idea of it.

This is my first venture into extended, multi-chapter stories in a great while, so I'm still kind of getting back into the game here. I'm going to try to update semi-frequently (probably twice a month at best…don't expect much more than that, and don't be surprised if it's more often something like once a month).

**Editing Note:** I have revised and updated this chapter slightly, partially due to some grammatical nuances that have been bugging me and also because some parts weren't written very well. Hopefully this'll hold up a little better.

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**New Order**

Chapter 1: _Looking Back_

"You know, staring at that fire all night can't be good for you."

Lloyd Irving turned to the sound of the voice. Late at night there wasn't usually much to do _but_ stare at the fire, but he supposed he could tear his eyes away from it for a few moments. "Since when are you awake?"

Sheena Fujibayashi crawled out of a small tent a few yards away and sat up, shrugging. "I dunno. Couldn't sleep, I guess. I suppose I might as well take watch now, huh?"

Lloyd grinned ruefully. "What the heck are we even keeping watch for? All the Desians are gone now, remember?"

The assassin thought about that for a moment. It was true; they hadn't heard anything of the organization in quite a while. It seemed they, along with Cruxis, had been completely disbanded, save perhaps for Kratos and Yuan. But Kratos was floating on Derris-Kharlan right about now, and Yuan…well, no one knew where the hell he was. Looking back, Sheena now thought of how ridiculous it must have been to take all of these precautions. She even remembered Colette telling her once, _"Be careful, you don't want to run into any bad people out there!"_ But then again, Colette worried about squirrels that she thought were climbing too high in the trees. In the end, she supposed it was just habitual.

"Well," Sheena finally replied, "remember that time that gang of looters snuck up on us?"

Lloyd grimaced. "Oh come on, we had the whole thing under control."

Sheena smiled and punched him playfully in the arm. "Sure, right up to the point where they stabbed you in the leg."

Lloyd's arm was smarting from the punch, though he hid it well enough. "Yeah, well, I took care of him right after that."

"You mean _I_ took care of him. You were busy holding your leg."

"Oh whatever." Lloyd was grinning from ear to ear by now. "You know, sometimes I envy Genis. Being able to blast people with fireballs must be _extremely_ satisfying."

Sheena thought for a moment. "…Like Zelos?"

"Don't remind me," Lloyd put in quickly. "Speaking of which, isn't that where we're headed?"

"Meltokio?" Sheena wasn't talking to anyone in particular. The circumstances behind their return to the upscale city weren't exactly along the lines of 'vacation time'. Truthfully, they were concerned about how people were coping with reunification. Some places, like Mizuho, were unfazed by the change, carrying on stoically as though nothing had happened. On the other hand some places like Altamira had been affected drastically. In Altamira's case, the resort had experienced a sudden upsurge in tourism from the newly-doubled population. Not really a bad thing by any means, but it had still been a chaotic experience for the first week or so. Regal hadn't been too thrilled about that, Sheena remembered. She smiled when she thought of him running around in blind panic for once, worrying about his company's quarterly expenditures or something of the sort. 'Normal' life was apparently taking a while to settle in again.

"Yeah," Lloyd replied absentmindedly. "D'you think we'll meet up with him there? You've gotta admit, it _has_ been a while."

The assassin sighed, gazing up toward the stars. "No amount of time away from that pervert is long enough. If we go the whole visit _without_ seeing him, let's just say I wouldn't be overly disappointed."

"Oh come on. He's not that bad."

Sheena snorted. "Easy for you to say. He hasn't peeked in on _you_ showering or had his hand on—"

"All right, I get it," Lloyd interjected. "You know, we don't both need to be up. If you're going to take watch, then…"

"Come on Lloyd," Sheena pouted. "Don't you want to keep me company?"

Lloyd couldn't resist a request like that. "Well, all right," he replied. "If it's all right with you."

"You idiot; I just asked _you_ for permission," Sheena laughed.

The two fell silent. After a while they drew closer, enjoying each other's presence until finally, Sheena fell asleep, leaning on Lloyd's shoulder.

--------

"Now the key to metalworking," Dirk was saying, "is, quite lit'rally, to strike while the iron is hot. Any hesitation and ye lose some precision. Questions on that, lad?"

Genis Sage shook his head. "No, I think I've got it." He reached for a hefty-looking sledgehammer. "This should do…"

The young half-elf had always intended to ask Lloyd to show him a few things about craftsmanship (his knowledge of the field extended only to cooking, if that even counted), but in the wake of his best friend's absence, he'd resolved to do the next-best thing: consult the master himself.

Compared to some others (say, Regal), Genis's life hadn't been greatly affected by reunification. In fact, Iselia itself hadn't changed at all. Granted, times were still a little strange and one wouldn't be surprised nowadays to find new travelers wandering through the quaint village, but they'd adjusted to that over time as well. Genis sometimes found himself wishing for maybe just a _little_ change, even considering going away himself to the newly-rebuilt Palmacosta or maybe even Sybak to study, but something held him back every time. Perhaps it was the very nostalgia that he had tried to wish away; he didn't know. Not all of the memories were good, after all. The human ranch still stood (albeit deserted) in the forest by the village, though Dirk was currently making plans to have it demolished.

Presently Dirk was demonstrating how one might shape metal into a weapon such as an axe or sword. Genis had been quick to pick up the theoretical knowledge of the art; however, the actual 'doing' was not so easy. As Zelos had once put it, "Aside from magic and smarts, the kid's about as useful as clothes on Sheena."

"Wait lad, that may be a wee bit heavy…!" Dirk began.

Too late. Genis lost control of the hammer in mid-swing and it came rushing down off-course, striking the red-hot metal at an odd angle.

"Take cover, lad!" Dirk cried, ducking behind his kiln. Genis managed to dodge out of the way just as the burning mass flew up and over his head.

The half-elf looked up just in time to see the metal rod, still glowing red, flying toward Dirk's front door. It cleared the threshold unobstructed, and then there was a hiss as it landed somewhere outside, followed quickly by agitated barking.

"Ooh, that would be Noishe's water trough…" Dirk attested. "Good thing it didn't find those petunias I just put in…."

At that moment small footsteps became audible outside the house, and a moment later a tall white-haired woman with a staff walked in through the door.

Genis cleared his throat. "Oh, hey Raine."

Raine Sage looked around, a bit puzzled at seeing everyone ducking behind various objects. "Hello Genis…did I miss something?"

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"Sheena, I'm tired."

The two had set out again, this time choosing to forsake their Rheairds for the time being and travel on foot. After all, Meltokio wasn't too far away, and they figured they'd enjoy the change of pace. Up to a certain point, anyway.

The ninja turned and put her hands on her hips. "Come on Lloyd, we haven't even been walking for half a day yet." The statement sounded absurd, and she knew it, but by this time the two were used to traversing long distances with little or no rest. She remembered one time when the Rheairds had broken down and they had had to haul them to Sybak for repairs. Walking all the way from Altessa's had _not_ been fun. Raine could have fixed them had she been there, but they weren't blessed with that sort of luxury.

"Besides," she continued, "I can see the city now. We're almost there. Do I have to say it…?"

Lloyd grinned lopsidedly. "I know, I know. 'Be a man!'" he exclaimed, mocking her voice.

"I don't sound like that," Sheena quipped, faking indignity. "You've got the pitch all wrong."

"Well, sorry I'm not a girl."

The two stared at each other for a moment and burst out laughing at the ridiculous statement.

--------

The two had walked in silence for a while. As they neared the city Lloyd remembered all the times they'd had to sneak into the place through the sewer. More than once they'd had fateful encounters in the place, one instance with Regal and the other with Vharley.

_Vharley…_ The Exsphere broker was long dead by now, and so was Rodyle. Together the two had gathered up a massive number of Exspheres. Only recently had Lloyd and Sheena managed to find the huge store of them. Lloyd actually didn't think of those two anymore so much as Presea. Currently she was living with Altessa; in fact the two had just seen her right before the aforementioned Rheaird incident.

"Welcome to Meltokio."

"Huh?" Lloyd was snapped out of his thoughts by the guard's greeting. Looking up, he realized they were already at the threshold of the city's gates.

Sheena gave him a sharp jab with her elbow. "Thank you very much."

Without hesitation she threaded her fingers through his, firmly grasping his hand. She turned and smiled. "Come on Lloyd."

Lloyd eyed her. "Umm…Sheena? We look like a married couple like this."

The assassin grinned even wider. "Is that a bad thing?"

Lloyd smiled. "I guess I could live with it."

The two walked through the city gates together.


	2. Starlight

Namco owns all rights to _Tales of Symphonia_. I don't claim to own them. This work is not intended for any form of profit and has been written without permission.

A funny thing happened to me the other day; I was sort of hit with inspiration for this chapter (no, I didn't have it completely planned out in my mind until just recently…that's how organized I am), but then never really got time to write. Of course, I promptly forgot what that inspiration was the second I decided my English project was more important, and just now remembered it. As such, I am just now writing.

Anyways, this chapter'll have a bit more interaction between characters than the last one did, so please forgive me if anyone seems a bit out of character; I'm just now getting back into playing the game and haven't yet even made it to Tethe'alla. Oopsie.

Secondly, I realize now that "Exsphere" is capitalized and that I forgot to do that all through Chapter 1…I may return and fix that sometime, but until I get the time to do that, try and bear with it.

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Chapter 2: _Starlight_

Lloyd had expected the attention. In fact, he'd have been very surprised if they _hadn't_ caused some sort of a stir. What he hadn't expected was the entire population of Meltokio to be lining the streets in anticipation of their arrival.

"Well, this is a little awkward," the swordsman remarked, gazing at all the people around him, a bit embarrassed. He stole a quick glance at Sheena to see how she was reacting to this. She appeared to be grinding her teeth.

Apparently, not so well.

By nightfall when the two finally reached Sancta Cassius, the inn, they were exhausted; a couple of screaming fangirls had decided they wanted Lloyd's autograph and had chased them halfway through the city before finally giving up and turning back, dejected.

"Ugh…one room, please," Lloyd barely managed to say before collapsing against the front desk. He felt as if he were about to cough up a lung.

"_Lloyd!_" Sheena exclaimed, half out of worry and half out of shock that he'd apparently been as presumptuous as to order a single room.

"Huh?" he uttered, apparently assuming she was implying the latter, "Ah, don't worry about it. It's cheaper that way. Two beds, all right?" he said reassuringly, talking both to the by-now uncomfortable-looking receptionist and Sheena.

The receptionist looked at the two as though they may have been drinking. "Um…very well. One room'll be three hundred Gald."

When the two had gotten upstairs to their room, Lloyd promptly plopped himself down on the nearest bed. "Man, I'm bushed. Who knew half-crazed girls had that much stamina? They weren't even packing Exspheres!"

Sheena shrugged. "Looks like you've got some admirers." Her voice cracked a little as she said that.

Lloyd turned and looked at her. "Huh? No way, some of them had to have been at least forty. There's no way anyone on this planet is _that_ kinky. Besides," he went on, turning his head and staring straight up at the ceiling as though there was something particularly interesting stuck on it, "I'm pretty sure Zelos has a monopoly on that sort of thing around here."

_Zelos…_Now that she thought of it that was something that had been bugging her for a while now. When girls were present—and the two knew all too well that they had been—Zelos Wilder could almost surely be found not too far behind. _That perverted idiot_… Sometimes Sheena truly wondered how someone like him had come to be the Chosen of Mana. True, the title didn't mean much now; once Mana had been resurrected and the Giant Kharlan Tree reborn many had abandoned the icons of the Church, choosing now to put faith in these new, more tangible symbols. While it may have been true that Mana was essentially Martel reincarnate it still made things like the "Chosen of Mana" seem like nothing more than empty titles.

"Hey," Sheena started, snapping the swordsman out of his daze. "Did you notice Zelos was AWOL when we showed up?"

Lloyd stared. "AWOL? What's that mean?"

She sighed. "I mean, he wasn't there. Everyone _except_ him was there."

"Oh. Well, I showed up in Mizuho once, and you weren't there."

"I was out on a training mission with Orochi. Besides, that's different. You're comparing kirima and amango here."

"What does any of this have to do with kirima and amango?"

The summoner smacked her forehead and sighed. "_Ay!_ You're missing the point. Doesn't it seem weird that he wasn't here? Especially around all of your newfound teenage fans?"

Lloyd thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe he was out on a training mission with Sebastian."

He was promptly met with a pillow in the face.

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"Now Genis," Raine was saying, "you really should eat your dinner. Besides, I cooked it especially for you."

_Ah, so _that's_ why I wasn't eating it._ The young mage stared down at his plate in the same manner as one staring at some sort of insect, _really_ wishing that his older sister hadn't insisted on cooking dinner every other day. She was, to this day, the only person he knew of who could burn fruit salad.

"Look, sis," Genis started, mentally grabbing at any excuse he could think of to get up and leave, "I've got something I've got to—"

"Oh, no you don't," Raine asserted sternly. "You're going to finish that if it _kills_ you."

Which it nearly did. By the time Genis was able to drag himself outside into the mild evening air he felt like he may have been harboring some sort of parasitic life form in his stomach. The fresh air helped though, and for several minutes he just stared out onto the horizon, thinking about nothing in particular.

At this time of year, the sun was setting a bit later; as such it was just setting into twilight, the sun having sunk to just that point where the sky was still tinted a dreamlike purple-pink hue, casting a faint light over the landscape, unwilling to give in to the night's starlight just yet.

"Genis?" The half-elf turned toward the sound of the voice. A girl approached him, her blond hair brilliantly shimmering in the fading daylight, as if it were reluctant to let go of its glow.

Genis smiled. "Hey Colette. What's going on?"

She smiled. "Oh, nothing. Mind if I join you?"

The mage shrugged. "Not at all. What's on your mind?"

The Chosen sighed, gazing out toward the setting sun just as Genis had done a moment ago. "Well, to tell you the truth, I kind of miss Lloyd. Iselia seems so…_empty_ without him."

"I know what you mean," Genis replied, leaning up against a split-rail fence that ran by the house. "He was usually getting in some sort of trouble. Things are way too tranquil nowadays."

"I'm also a little worried about him," Colette went on. "I mean, it's not like he has all of us there with him anymore."

Genis laughed. "I'm sure he's fine. He's got Sheena with him, after all." He almost immediately regretted saying that. Throughout their journey he'd come to notice that Colette had become very attached to Lloyd by the end. Somehow, he doubted that bringing up the female summoner had been the best idea.

To his surprise though, Colette smiled and nodded. "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. I know they can take good care of each other."

His mind back at ease, he shook his head. "You know, Lloyd was right. You definitely need to stop apologizing so much."

She giggled. "It's a curse, I guess."

--------

In the light, his face seemed so pure, so gentle. When he smiled at her, his features seemed to glow, filling her with such a feeling of warmth and security that she wished she could stay that way forever.

"Are you all right Sheena?" he said, offering a hand.

Huh? She hadn't even noticed she'd fallen down. Whatever. She took his hand, smiling sweetly. "Oh, I'm fine. You don't think something like that would stop me, do you?"

Lloyd laughed gently. "Of course not. You're just a little clumsy, that's all."

The summoner's cheeks flushed. "I am not!" she exclaimed indignantly.

Lloyd seemed taken aback by the outburst. "I'm sorry, you're right," he said apologetically.

Sheena's face softened instantly. "No, I was just kidding. It's all right. Listen…" her voice trailed off as she thought of what she was about to say. "I've been thinking for a while, and there's something I wanted to tell you about."

She looked straight into Lloyd's eyes, hoping to find some sort of sign of happiness or at least curiosity. Instead, his eyes had turned cold, his crimson gaze burning into her head.

"Wake up Sheena," he snapped, glaring at her. "Open your eyes."

"Wha—" Sheena was shocked. "But Lloyd, all I was saying was—"

She wasn't expecting his next move. Roughly, he grabbed her by the shoulders, bringing her face close to his. "Wake up!" he screamed. "_Wake up!_"

Sheena's eyes suddenly snapped open, the darkness of the room instantly engulfing her. The only light was that of the moon, drifting in through the open window. _All a dream…_ She shook her head, trying to wipe away the memory. Lloyd would never act that way around her…would he? She turned to look at the swordsman and froze.

A figure stood over Lloyd's sleeping form, silhouetted by the moonlight. Sheena was about to shout when he started muttering something. Silently, she strained to hear him.

"This…not right…" he mumbled. "It's…not a Starsphere." Without another word he produced a short, deadly-looking knife. With his free hand, he gently, so as not to wake Lloyd, picked up the swordsman's left hand.

Sheena decided she'd seen and heard enough. Silently, as she'd been trained, she sent a single shuriken flying his way. Not to kill him, but hopefully it would render one of his arms useless. However, the star sailed by the figure, ramming into the far wall with a dull _thud_.

_Dammit!_ She cursed herself. Even with the moonlight it was too dark to guarantee any accuracy. Worst of all, the intruder was now aware of the swordsman's companion. Not wasting any words, he released Lloyd's hand and started to run. Sheena expected him to come at her, but instead he dashed past her, hurling himself out through the open window.

"No way…" she mumbled, racing out of her bed to the window. She could see him standing on the next rooftop, staring back at her, seemingly expecting her to give chase. "How could he have survived that?"

Behind her, Lloyd mumbled something incoherently and stirred, thought still asleep. For a moment she considered waking the swordsman, but decided against it. Quickness was essential here, and Lloyd wasn't exactly the picture of "nimble".

Without a second thought she dove through the window after the man, out into the breezy night air. She turned a neat flip and landed on her feet on the sloped roofing. Crouching low, she let herself slide down the surface, accelerating as she neared the edge. At the last second she launched herself up, landing on a taught wire between the two buildings. The ninja balanced precariously for a split second, and then hopped nimbly onto the adjacent rooftop.

Through all of this the intruder had watched, unmoving, almost with a sort of bemused indifference. "Quite impressive, for a mortal," he retorted, his voice cutting the calm night air.

Sheena turned and faced him. "Believe me, I had a little help."

The man laughed. "I see…your Exsphere. Hmm…how pathetic."

"What do you mean?" the summoner shot back. "And who are you, calling me 'mortal'?"

"My dear," the man began, "you'll soon find out that compared to you, I am leagues above what you pitiful people would call mortal."

Sheena smirked. "Oh yeah? Well, I managed to keep pace with you pretty well."

Had it not been so dark, she would have sworn that a huge grin broke out across the man's face. "Now where would the fun be if I _hadn't_ let you keep up?" Without another word he turned and leapt over the edge.

_What is with this guy?_ Sheena looked over the precipice and saw him make the entire lung-crushing leap in one bound. He landed nimbly, unfazed, and dashed off down an alleyway. Sighing with resignation, Sheena gave chase, flipping gracefully over the edge and descending to ground level via a series of wall kicks.

"Come now," the man's voice said. "You'll never catch me if you play it safe like that."

Sheena dashed down the alleyway after the offender, wonder just what the hell all of this was about. And to think earlier the most pressing of her problems was where Zelos had gotten himself off to. As she proceeded down the alley, the moonlight grew more and more scarce. Suddenly, something collided sharply with her head and she fell backward in a daze. Before she could react, she felt herself lifted roughly off the ground by the front of her robe.

"Who…who are you?" she gasped, her breathing impeded by his near stranglehold.

"That…" he rasped, "will be revealed in due time." And then he brought his hand up to her face.

Expecting a slap, punch, or hit of some kind, Sheena tensed, expecting the impact. When it never came, she opened her eyes again.

_Bad move._

There was something attached to the back of the man's hand, a fiery, shining white orb. It exploded into a dazzling, burning light, nearly blinding her as she felt herself drop back to the hard, stone ground. When she finally felt the pain die away and opened her eyes once more, the man was nowhere to be seen.

"What was _that_?" she wondered aloud. "I've never seen anything like that before…"

Suddenly Sheena felt a sharp draft, and realized the front of her robe had been ripped open from the man's hold. The interior layer of fabric was still intact, for modesty's sake, but it still didn't look all that great.

As she looked around, she realized that she recognized the part of town she was in. In fact…

"The castle?" she muttered incredulously. "What the hell?"

Curiosity getting the better of her, she trudged up the flight of steps in front of the large, regal building.

"Hello."

"What the—" Sheena spun around to the sound of the voice, spell card in hand. However, she lowered her weapon when she saw who it was.

The offending speaker was no more than a boy, around Genis' age, maybe even a bit younger. In fact, his hair was white, which only furthered the comparison.

"Who are you?" Sheena asked incredulously.

"Huh?" the boy replied, almost surprised a girl so much older than he would even consider bothering to talk with him. "Oh…my name's Annis."

The ninja smiled. "I'm Sheena."

The boy smiled in return. "Hey Sheena." Suddenly, he cocked his head to one side. "Your clothes are hanging off…are you a…" He paused, as if thinking of the word. "Are you a prostitute?"

"WHAT!?" Sheena flushed red, considering killing the kid just for suggesting such a thing. Then again, her look and condition didn't exactly help anything.

"You, boy! Is that you? Hurry up!" The call of the guard from above was sharp and commanding. Sheena quickly ducked out of sight.

"I'm sorry," Annis said softly. "I've gotta go. I'll see you again sometime!" Without another word, he hurried up the steps to the castle entrance.

_This sure has been an interesting night._ Sheena was about to head back toward the hotel—hopefully to finally get some well-deserved rest—when she heard another conversation start up.

"Are you here for prisoner 7590A? We've been expecting someone for him."

Annis spoke next. "Um…who is that exactly?"

Sheena could hear the guy sigh, even from under his iron helmet. "That would be the Chosen of Mana, Zelos Wilder."

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**Author's Note:** This went on longer than I thought it would, honestly. I guess I should come to expect that from now on. Anyway, in case anyone cares, "7590" is my birthday, just sort of…compressed into one number. Yeah, I'm done now.


	3. A Slight Complication

Namco owns all rights to _Tales of Symphonia_. I don't claim to own them. This work is not intended for any form of profit and has been written without permission.

I'm pretty happy with this; I think I managed to get it out faster than I do with most updates, so that's definitely a plus. Believe me, the writing's a lot easier now that I actually have some semblance of an idea for where I'm taking the plot…erm…did I say that out loud?

Also, I did take the time to go and revamp Chapter 1 a bit, so you may want to check that out of it interests you. Really, it's just a few grammatical tweaks and simple revisions, so it's probably not all that relevant.

I'm trying to balance writing this and a couple other projects at the moment, but updates should stay consistent. Thanks for bearing with me!

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Chapter 3: _A Slight Complication_

"You know, I could really get to dislike you," Sheena growled, pacing back and forth with an expression so menacing she probably would have scared any nearby Desian into running halfway to Flanoir. "Oh, wait a second. I forgot; it's a bit too late for that."

As she paced, she gazed through the cell bars, willing them to disappear so she might possibly reach in and throttle the living daylights out of that idiotic, philandering excuse for a Chosen.

"I think you're giving me too much credit," Zelos replied, an irritatingly wide grin plastered across his face. To the summoner's surprise, his expression suddenly turned serious. "I swear though, I haven't done anything wrong."

Sheena nodded. "All right. I've got time to kill, I suppose."

_---- Earlier that day… ----_

The sun was coming up, heralding a new day, a fresh start. Most of the time the sight was a welcome one to Sheena, a beautiful segue to new possibilities, a masterpiece painted by Martel herself. She recalled how she used to watch the sun rise over Mizuho every day when she was younger. To her, it was a way of escaping reality, a chance to lose herself in her own welcoming world when everyone around her was so cold and unforgiving. Every now and then Orochi and sometimes even Kuchinawa would join her, but truthfully, she preferred the solitude over all else.

Now though, it only served to remind her that she hadn't slept most of the night. Still wondering how she was going to explain all of this to Lloyd, she paused to ponder the previous night's events. That man had mentioned something peculiar, a _Starsphere_ or something of the sort. He also had something attached to his hand, something that looked suspiciously like an Exsphere, though if it was, the pure white color was definitely not normal. In addition, she'd learned—albeit indirectly—from that kid, Annis, that Zelos was imprisoned for one reason or another. Things were definitely beginning to stretch the boundaries of a "diplomatic visit".

As she came to the inn, she finally wondered what Lloyd would think when he found out he'd nearly been murdered in the middle of the night by some half-crazed egotistical lunatic. That sort of thing had only happened to the swordsman once before, and in that instance Zelos had only been trying to play a practical joke. Sighing in resignation, she opened the door to the inn and entered. No one was up yet; the only soul present was the receptionist from the day before, who seemed to be fully engrossed in some sort of magazine.

"Hey," Sheena beckoned as she headed for the stairs. "I was here yesterday. I—"

"Believe me, I know who you are," the receptionist cut in hastily. He turned his attention back to the magazine he was reading.

"All right, fine," the summoner replied, pulling a disgusted face behind the man's back when she saw what exactly he was 'reading'.

She continued up the stairs, coming up to their room. For one panicked moment she thought she'd forgotten her room key, though after some quick, frantic searching of her person she found it tucked into an inner pocket of her robe. Quickly, silently as she could, she slipped the key in and turned it, grimacing as the lock clicked like a gunshot when it cut through the silence. Hoping for the best, she poked her head in.

_That's a relief_. Lloyd wasn't up yet. In fact he must have been a _really _sound sleeper, as he was half-hanging off of his bed, his left arm and leg dangling in a ridiculous position as he snored uproariously, mouth wide open. It was a truly comical sight, and it was all Sheena could do to keep from bursting into hysterics. At this rate, she doubted even something like one of Zelos' practical jokes would wake the slumbering swordsman. Oh well. All the better for her. _I'll wake him after I get a little shuteye myself._

Quietly she tiptoed past him, finally allowing herself to fall face-first onto her bed, groaning slightly as she felt the soft mattress caress her sore, tired form. "Just…five more minutes…" she muttered absently.

As if on cue, Lloyd suddenly sprang awake beside her. "Hmm? Man, morning already? Phew, that was the best sleep I've had in a while! How about you, Sheena? …Erm…Sheena?"

He didn't hear her, but in the moment it took him to say that, the assassin had muttered close to every curse word she knew into her pillow.

--------

As far as the explanation went, Sheena hadn't been quite sure where to start. In truth, something along the lines of _"Hey Lloyd, just so you know, some lunatic came in our room last night and nearly sliced your hand off. Want breakfast?"_ didn't seem to come out quite right, even in her head. So naturally, she'd decided to get breakfast first, _then_ explain everything.

"So…this guy was looking for a…um…what was it called again?" Lloyd said around a mouthful of toast.

"Starsphere," Sheena replied shortly, not bothering to eat anything more than a couple slices of kirima. She was really more tired than hungry anyway, but over the years she'd learned to cope with extended sleep-deprived periods. She vividly remembered one training mission she'd been on where she had been challenged to retrieve a stone in the middle of the woods and find her way back to Mizuho no matter how long it took, without sleeping. The idea was to promote constant awareness and vigilance; had she ever allowed herself to fall asleep, a nearby observing ninja would have swiftly ended the mission—and her life—with a simple, accurate toss of a kunai. Something, she realized now, that Kuchinawa probably would have found the utmost satisfaction in doing.

"Right," Lloyd agreed, now biting into some eggs. "So," he began in an offhand tone, "did you find Zelos?" He said it half-jokingly.

Sheena sighed, slightly losing her patience with her friend's sloppy eating habits. "You know what? We'll go and see for ourselves."

After checking out, it was a short trip to the castle, but somewhere in the back of her mind Sheena wondered what she'd find. Or, at least, what she hoped to find. Somehow, she doubted they'd be allowed to just walk on down to the dungeon and have a nice reunion. Then again, maybe the king would be in a good mood. Or drunk. Either would serve the purpose. However, as they neared the castle entrance, the former quickly became much less likely. The latter wasn't looking so hot either.

"Halt," one of the guards said authoritatively. "No civilians are permitted inside the castle today."

Sheena smiled sweetly, almost expecting it to work. Almost. "Oh come on," she said reprovingly, "we're two of the heroes of Aselia! Surely you can make an exception for people like me and Lloyd here." She shot a glance over at the swordsman, who seemed preoccupied with a passing butterfly. _Not helping_.

"I'm sorry," the guard replied, a hint of regret hanging on his voice. "I can't. King's orders." Like they'd be anyone else's orders.

Nothing else for it, Sheena nodded and dragged Lloyd away from the loitering insect until they were a good distance away, fully out of earshot. "Any bright ideas?"

The swordsman grinned. "Sure. I'll go in head-on while you sneak up behind them, and—"

Sheena cut him off. "Anything that _doesn't_ involve us becoming Public Enemy #1?"

"Well, technically we'd be Enemies #1 and 2—"

"Not. The. POINT!" the summoner exclaimed, casting a truly imposing figure over the crimson-clad hero. Lloyd hadn't felt this afraid since Raine had caught him paying Genis off to do his homework.

"What are you two yelling about?" Sheena whirled around to come face-to-face, yet again, with that kid.

"Annis?" she said inquisitively. "What're you doing here?"

"Who's that?" Lloyd asked, a little dumbfounded. "He kinda looks like Genis."

Sheena ignored him, an idea already forming. "Say, Annis, do you know any way we could get into the castle without the guards noticing us?"

The boy smiled. "Of course!"

Lloyd jumped up, finally catching on. "Awesome! Can you show us? See, we're—"

"Let me guess," Annis said prosaically, "you want to see the Chosen, right?"

Sheena giggled slightly. "How'd you know?"

Annis shrugged, as if he saw this all the time. "Well, it's natural. You want his autograph!"

Sheena looked like she may have stepped in something unpleasant. "_What!?_" she screeched, causing both Lloyd and Annis to duck for cover behind some nearby shrubs. "If you think for a second that I'm _anything_ like those loose floozies that…that _womanizer_ hangs around with, then you've got—"

"Will you relax?" Annis said quickly. "I was kidding. Come on now, we don't want to be drawing the entire army's attention. Let's go."

--------

"_That's_ our way in?" Lloyd said disdainfully, nose wrinkled. "It looks even worse than those sewers we had to trek through."

Annis' "solution" turned out to be a low drainage tunnel in the side of the castle. Of course, it was a sewage drain. The smell wasn't too reassuring.

"Hey, you said you wanted in," Annis retorted nonchalantly. "This should lead right to the cells."

Lloyd and Sheena exchanged a look, wondering if it was worth it. Sheena in particular was starting to think maybe having Zelos behind bars for a while wasn't such a bad idea after all. In the end though, curiosity won out, leaving the two with the decision of who was going in first.

Lloyd held out a fist. "Want to play Swordsman-Summoner-Mage for it?"

Sheena stared incredulously for a moment, finally breaking into a smile at her friend's request. "You're kidding, right? Come on, I'll go first." The summoner ducked down into the tunnel, trying her hardest to ignore the fact that it smelled like something was decomposing inside it.

Lloyd ducked in after her. After realizing that no one was following him, he half-turned and called over his shoulder, "Hey Annis, you coming?"

He couldn't see the boy, but he heard his voice call back, echoing precariously off the stone walls of the tunnel. "No, I'm all right. Go on ahead!"

The next few minutes passed in relative silence as the two progressed, each trying their hardest to concentrate on something other than the awful smell. Sheena was the first to break the silence. "Lloyd, that had better not your hand on my—"

"Sorry."

By now the smell was almost dizzying, but the two could tell they were reaching the end of the tunnel from the ever-increasing ray of light emanating in the distance somewhere up ahead. Sheena's heart practically soared as she saw this, grateful for the opportunity to finally escape Annis' hellish excuse for a way in. Somehow, Sheena wondered if he'd ever taken the tunnel himself. Then, before she realized it, light engulfed her vision.

"Whew…made it!"

"Well now, if it isn't my beautiful hunny Sheena!"

The voice was like grinding nails against Raine's chalkboard. She knew she should have come to expect this, but somehow finally hearing Zelos Wilder speak to her in that idiotically aloof tone of his was worse than anything she could've imagined. Mentally bracing herself for a taxing conversation, she crawled out of the drain and made a show of dusting herself off, regardless of whether or not it would actually get rid of that damned smell. Nothing else for it, she walked forward a bit so as to allow Lloyd some room to extricate himself as well. She turned to look at the redhead as she walked. Just seeing him sitting inside that cell of his seemed to turn her normally neutral expression into an unpleasant one. Although, she noted, he seemed to be the only one down here, interestingly enough. All the other cells were empty; they seemed to have shoved Zelos in the most remote cell imaginable, as if they simply wanted nothing more to do with him for the time. _Smart thinking._

"You know, I could really get to dislike you," Sheena growled, pacing back and forth with an expression so menacing she probably would have scared any nearby Desian into running halfway to Flanoir. "Oh, wait a second. I forgot; it's a bit too late for that."

As she paced, she gazed through the cell bars, willing them to disappear so she might possibly reach in and throttle the living daylights out of that idiotic, philandering excuse for a Chosen.

"I think you're giving me too much credit," Zelos replied, an irritatingly wide grin plastered across his face. To the summoner's surprise, his expression suddenly turned serious. "I swear though, I haven't done anything wrong."

Sheena nodded. "All right. I've got time to kill, I suppose."

Lloyd had finally managed to haul himself out of the dank tunnel and was now standing quietly in the corner, determined to let Sheena's tantrum run its course without interfering—too much. He'd seen the Chosen and summoner go at it before, and it never ended up too well for anyone involved. However, his presence hadn't gone unnoticed like he'd been hoping.

"Lloyd, you too man? How've you been?" Zelos said cheerily, deliberately changing the subject.

"Well, you know," the swordsman said vaguely, desperately looking for an excuse to stop talking.

"No, I don't," the Chosen persisted with an odd grin. "What were you and Sheena doing by yourselves in that dark, dirty tunnel anyway? You two getting your freak on? A little dance down under?"

Lloyd stared. "What the hell does that—"

"_Zelos!_" Sheena screeched, cutting the swordsman off.

"What, well I thought maybe you two were into that sort of—_oof!_" The Chosen had been leaning in just a bit too close to the bars as Sheena's fist found its way through, colliding strongly with his stomach. A blissful silence ensued as the redhead fell back, winded.

"I can't believe you," the assassin retorted, hands on hips. "We come down here to help you out, and all you can think of is—"

"Oh, so you _are_ here to bust me out!" Zelos exclaimed triumphantly. "Ah-HAH! I knew you'd come back for me someday, my voluptuous hunny…score one for the Chosen!" He licked his index finger and drew a tally mark in the air.

Sheena shook her head, hands firmly pressed upon her face. "I don't believe this…"

"So Zelos," Lloyd finally said, breaking his relatively long silence. "How did you end up in here anyway?"

"Aah," the Chosen sighed dramatically, gesturing with one arm as though he were on stage at Altamira. "You want to hear my tragic tale of woefully wrongful arrest. Well, you see…"

Sheena was about to ask just what the hell it meant to be 'woefully wrongful' when both her train of thought and Zelos' long-winded explanation were somewhat rudely interrupted.

"Lloyd Irving and Sheena Fujibayashi! You two are under arrest for conspiracy against His Highness, the King of Tethe'alla!" The three of them all turned in unison in time to see a trio of armored guards at the dungeon entrance. All were wielding less-than-friendly-looking weapons, which didn't do much as far as reassuring went.

"Hey guys?" Zelos said off-hand. "Now would be a good time to get me out of here—"

"Ah-HAH! A confession, straight from the traitor's mouth!"

"Zelos, you _idiot!_" Sheena screamed, on the verge of hysteria.

"Sheena, you work on getting him out," Lloyd said in a surprisingly calm yet urgent tone. "I'll hold these guys off!" Before the summoner could ask for further clarification—as if she needed any—the swordsman was rushing at the guards, Material Blades drawn, yelling at the top of his lungs in an effort to draw attention away from the ninja.

As he did so, Sheena produced a long, thin strip of metal from the inside of her robe. With her other hand, she reached back and pulled a bobby pin out of her hair. Ignoring Zelos' particularly off-color comment, she set to work. She inserted the metal strip into the lock first, gently applying pressure as she turned it as far as it would go. Next she stuck the pin inside as far back as possible with the hooked end facing down and pressed down slightly. There was a small _click_ as she felt one of the pistons give way. She smiled. This was going to be easier than she thought.

_This may not be as easy as I thought_. Three against one didn't give him good odds at any stretch, but at least their confined area didn't give the guards much opportunity to spread out, Lloyd noticed. Rushing to the guard nearest him, he leapt upward and cried, "Tiger Rage!" as he turned a complete three-sixty in midair, swords extended. He felt the blades crash against the guard's helmet a few times until he came out of his spin. Shifting his weight, he used his momentum to bring himself flying downward, driving the hilts of his swords deep into the guard's unarmored pressure points between the neck and shoulders. He dropped like a stone. Seeing his, Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief. If anything, he didn't want to have to resort to killing anyone.

Another _click_ ensued as Sheena managed to move another piston. "Just a bit more," she mumbled, hoping there weren't too many left. Surprisingly, Zelos had gone silent, letting the ninja concentrate on the task at hand. _Oh well, guess he's not a _complete_ idiot._

Lloyd didn't have much time to think as he felt a crushing force drive into his side. The hit sent him flying sideways, smashing into the bars of a nearby cell. Battered and winded, the swordsman looked up in time to see a plated foot smash into his stomach.

"Oof!" he wheezed as he fought to catch his breath. Then he was lifted off the ground as one guard grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Lloyd fought gamely, slashing wildly with his swords, but didn't expect the other guard to come up and deliver a sickening punch to the groin.

Sheena looked over just in time to see Lloyd drop to the floor, howling in pain while clutching his privates. She felt powerless as the two guards continued to beat on the swordsman, kicking viciously at his writhing form. Diverting her eyes, she tried to keep her concentration on the task at hand. "Just hold on a little longer Lloyd," she muttered as another piston clicked. It looked like there was just one more now…

The pain was unrelenting. Lloyd felt like he had been caught right in the middle of a Judgment Ray. He had to do something to break their attack pattern!

"GUARDIAN!" he hollered, feeling a blissful respite as a temporary force field formed around his body, impeding the guard's blows. Not even thinking twice, he decided to use the temporary lull to his advantage. Closing his eyes, he concentrated and began chanting the incantation to the only spell he knew.

"Got it!" Sheena exclaimed as the last piston gave way. The metal strip, now free of impediments, turned completely in the lock and opened the cell door. With a wild yell of triumph, Zelos jumped gleefully out the doorway.

"All right!" he exclaimed, embracing the summoner. "I knew you'd come through for me, my—"

"Oh cut it out," Sheena snarled, slapping him with surprising force. "Not the right time or place."

"Ouch, that's harsh. Couldn't you for once just—"

But Sheena was already ignoring him, running down the corridor as fast as she could to help out her friend. She arrived just in time to see Lloyd's Guardian fade away, the swordsman still concentrating and chanting. "Don't worry Lloyd, I'm coming!"

There would be no need. Lloyd's eyes suddenly snapped open, and with them, his luminescent angelic wings burst forth in all their glory. When he spoke, his voice seemed augmented with one much deeper than his own. As Sheena watched, the Material Blades fused together and became the Eternal Sword. "I'll show you divine judgment!" he roared. "FALCON'S CREST!" Lloyd brought the mighty blade down in front of him as a glowing circular aura appeared around his feet, being careful not to aim the brunt of the blast at either guard. A blinding flash of light engulfed the room and Sheena shielded her eyes. When the light had died away, she opened her eyes again to see the two guards thrown in opposite directions. Each had smashed completely through the bars of a cell and were now laying, appropriately enough, inside.

"Oh YEAH!" Zelos rooted, pumping his fist. "That's our Lloyd! How about that for wowing the ladies, Sheena?"

The summoner wasn't listening. Mouth agape, she took in the sight of the panting Lloyd, once again holding his Material Blades. "Are you all right?" she asked quietly, almost afraid he'd turn and attack her on sight.

Instead, he turned and laughed. "Come on, what's that face for? I'm just fine. Now, should we take the front way out, or back through the tunnel?" he asked jokingly.

Sheena was about to speak up when Zelos cut in. "Honestly, we'd have a lot more luck with the front. I'm sure there are guards posted outside the tunnel entrance; if we went out they'd just pick us off."

The ninja stared. "Wow Zelos, that was actually half-intelligent of you."

Zelos grinned. "Anything for the femmes."

"Well that didn't last long," Lloyd put in. "Come on, let's get going."

The other two nodded and the trio ran up the stairwell, out into one of the castle corridors. Not caring to bother with stealth, the three of them shoved, barged, and crashed their way into the throne room.

"Sorry my dear!" Zelos called over his shoulder to a maid he'd just knocked over. "I'll invite you over to my mansion sometime to make it up to you! We can—"

"You! How dare you…you _fugitives_ disgrace my throne room like this!" Lloyd and Sheena turned to see the king rise from his throne, shaking a fist. Sheena squinted for a moment as the sunlight glinted off of something on the back of the king's hand and into her eyes. It intrigued her for some reason, but she was quickly snapped out of her thoughts by Lloyd, who roughly grabbed her by the forearm as he turned to run, just as the king shouted, "Guards! Don't let them escape!"

"Oh man," Zelos gritted as he threw his shoulder at the door, hoping to Martel it wasn't barred. There was a huge _thud_ as the large oaken doors gave way, and the three made a mad dash out into the courtyard.

"We have to fly!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Are you kidding me? Is there enough room?" Zelos replied, panting.

Lloyd produced his and Sheena's wing packs. "No time to worry about that," he said matter-of-factly. Wasting no time, he pressed the button atop each one and flung them to the ground. There was a dull little _pop_ as the packs burst open, producing the two Rheairds. "Come on Sheena," he called as he hopped aboard.

"No fair, I want to ride with—"

"Not on your life, you philandering—"

Their bickering was cut short as the machines roared to life and lifted off into the sky.

--------

"Now, who can tell me the answer?" Raine's voice seemed to echo throughout the classroom, which did a wonderful job of symbolizing just how much everyone was paying attention. "Genis, how about you? You seem to be enjoying my lesson. What was the year that Spiritua originally began her journey?"

For the first time in his life, Genis found himself caught not paying attention, having been staring intently out the window for the past hour or so. "Mm…pi-r-squared?" he said absently.

Raine's cheeks flushed—though not nearly as much as Genis'—as the entire classroom exploded into fits of laughter. "Settle down. Class, _that's enough!_" The entire room fell silent instantly. No one was foolish enough to test Raine when she was in a bad mood, and this one looked to be a _really_ bad one.

However, the professor sighed gently and spoke with a soft, level voice. "Look—I know, it's hard to focus. Sure, times are a little strange, and we _are_ missing a few faces." The last comment was obviously in reference to Lloyd. Though Raine had a hard time admitting it, even to herself, there was something about the swordsman's laziness and lack of academic prowess that actually seemed to keep things together in her classroom. The more she thought about him, she more she realized she truly missed him. Deep down, he was really one of her favorite students. Lost in her thoughts, she gazed out the window. And that's when she caught sight of the two approaching shapes on the horizon. Two unmistakable shapes. "Oh my—" she started.

Genis had seen them too, and was already out of his chair, jumping up and down like a maniac. "They're back, they're back!" he screamed, forgetting all about composure. "It's them!" Disregarding all else, he bolted out of the room like all of Niflheim was after him. "They're back! Lloyd and Sheena came back!"

--------

**Author's Note:** Well, a lot more happened in that chapter than usual, it seems. It also made for the longest chapter I've written thus far. The next one'll probably be a bit lighter as far as action scenes go, but I'll see where the writing takes me.

Also, I've started a new project called _Tales From Flanoir_, which I'm hoping to have up soon. Of course, I'm still working steadily on this. Until the next chapter!


	4. A Little Knowledge

Namco owns all rights to _Tales of Symphonia_. I don't claim to own them. This work is not intended for any form of profit and has been written without permission.

I guess I don't actually have too much to say this time around. The writing's going smoothly? Actually that would be a lie, since I've been on an out-of-state trip which is why this has been taking so long. Sorry to disappoint those who thought I died.

In all honesty though, this was kind of a tough chapter for me to write. It's a dialogue-driven chapter, which really isn't something I excel at (I have to struggle to keep it from dragging). But as always, I'm trying to improve.

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Chapter 4: _A Little Knowledge_

As Lloyd saw the small village of Iselia come more and more into view, he couldn't help but feel a wave of nostalgia wash over him. This was the very place, one day so long ago it seemed, that he, Genis, and Colette had set off for the Martel Temple after the Light of the Oracle had shown itself. And after that, well, the rest was now legendary, the full story of the eight heroes reaching all the corners of the newly-reunified world, Aselia, so named in honor of the Eternal Swordsman's village of upbringing. Despite all of this, however, the place felt foreign in a way, a sense of unfamiliarity mixing with the memories. _Maybe I've been away too long_, he thought. Then again, he'd only been gone for a few months. But he supposed being away from home could make any length of time, however short, feel like years.

"Lloyd?" Sheena addressed the swordsman as gently as she could over the unobtrusive yet persistent hum of the Rheaird. She had her arms wrapped tightly around Lloyd's waist, having lost her own vehicle to Zelos. This at first had been accompanied by a good amount of furious blushing on both their parts for the close proximity, but by now, any uncertainty had died away. "Are you worried about something?"

Lloyd turned, looking the young ninja square in the eyes as he always did. A small grin seemed to be playing on his face. "What? Now why would I be worried about something?"

The summoner shrugged expressively. "I dunno. You seemed absorbed in your thoughts for a second there." Suddenly she broke into an odd smile. "That, and you've let us drift a good ways off-course." She indicated a spot off in the distance.

And indeed, when Lloyd followed the girl's gesture he saw another Rheaird a good ways away, presumably heading in the _right_ direction. The swordsman could just make out Zelos' tiny figure waving lazily at them.

"Oh…yeah, I knew that," he lied. He quickly corrected the machine's path.

"Lloyd Irving, you're the worst liar in the world. _Both_ worlds, actually."

"Well, that's because lying is—"

"I know, I know: 'Lying is the first step down the path of thievery.'"

Lloyd grinned. "You know Sheena, you almost know the Dwarven Vows better than I do."

--------

Raine almost wanted to slap Genis for disrupting her class in such a manner. But than again, she just couldn't bring herself to discipline someone so excited about his best friend's return home. And she couldn't completely deny that she was excited as well. Although, another side of her, the cold, analytical side, wondered exactly _why_ Lloyd was returning. The stubborn teenager certainly wasn't one to cave in to homesickness. She couldn't bear to even permit herself to acknowledge it, but truthfully, Raine suspected bad news. Or, in the very least, nothing overly positive. Visiting on a whim wasn't Lloyd's style, and she knew it. However, for the time being, she wore a content smile on her face, outwardly appearing surprised and happy to see the returning pair, inwardly wishing she could buy into her own façade. For Genis' sake. And most likely her own as well.

The sun met the healer's eyes with glaring force as she stepped outside, and for an instant the cheery backdrop washed away any concerns she may have had. The class, taking the professor's departure as cue to abandon the classroom did so, happy for the return of some old friends and the respite from school that such an event provided.

However, intrigue and apprehension washed over the professor like a cloud blocking out the sunlight the instant the Rheairds touched down. Genis didn't seem to notice right away as he ran to Lloyd's side as the swordsman stepped off of his machine, but Raine was quick to pick up on the third and quite unexpected face. "Zelos? My, this is a surprise."

The Chosen smirked. "Ah Raine, my beauty, ever the observant one. I was just starting to think that no one was going to notice my blessed presence."

The professor sighed theatrically. "I see you haven't changed much."

"Wow Lloyd…it's been such a long time!" Genis was acting as if swordsman had just come back from fighting in the Kharlan War. "We've all missed you a lot."

Lloyd's expression was one of shocked incredulity. "Even Professor Raine? I thought she'd be doing some sort of dance the minute I left."

"What, I'm not allowed to miss one of my most valued students?" Lloyd turned to see Raine now standing beside him, having managed to pry herself from Zelos' mind-numbing conversation.

"Professor!" exclaimed the scarlet-clad hero. "How've things been—"

Raine held up a hand, effectively cutting him off, her expression suddenly stern. "What are you thinking? No letter? In four months? You could've _died_ and we probably would've been the last ones to find out about it! And furthermore…" an uncharacteristic grin broke out on the woman's face as she concluded her mock reprimand, "…you aren't a child anymore. Lloyd, stop calling me your professor and start calling me 'Raine'."

Throughout all of this, Sheena was caught up in a sort of awkward silence. Lloyd was immediately welcomed back with open arms, but in the end, she realized that she didn't quite fit in. Not here, anyway. On the road, she and Lloyd got along great, sharing everything with each other. Now, however, it was a different ballgame. Even Zelos looked slightly uncomfortable, she noticed, if only for the lack of a familiar female face to flirt with. _Mental alliteration? What the hell?_

"Sheena?" The ninja spun around to come face-to-face with Colette.

"Oh, hi Colette," Sheena replied cheerily, happy for someone she could finally talk to.

"Colette! My beautiful angel, how are—augh!" Sheena elbowed Zelos out of the way as he approached the golden-haired Chosen. That idiot's flirting could wait.

Now that she took the time to notice, Sheena saw that Colette had changed a great deal over the period of time in which she and Lloyd had been absent. The girl had grown a couple of inches; she'd only been about shoulder-height before. She had also opted for a wardrobe change: Colette now wore a white sleeveless top which she let hang open casually down the front to reveal a dark blue skintight T-shirt that matched her leggings, which now extended only to her knees. Accenting all of this was the very obvious fact that Colette had matured physically, something Sheena was sure Zelos would have been quick to take note of had he not received an elbow in the face.

"You look great," Sheena commented simply. She shot the Chosen an inquisitive look. "Wow, you've grown so much. Has that much changed while we were gone?"

Colette smiled, her features radiant. "Oh, I guess it's just me. Iselia's the same peaceful place it's always been."

Somehow, the seemingly innocent statement struck a chord somewhere within Sheena. She didn't want to say anything now, but perhaps it was due to the simple yet unsettling fact that whatever peace they had might not be lasting much longer. Though one maniac with some messed-up Exsphere didn't exactly spell Doomsday, she couldn't help but worry that it was all part of something bigger. After all, Mithos had only been one maniac with a messed-up Exsphere and a little ambition to spare. And an entire army of half-elves at his disposal. And everyone who lived in the reunified world knew where _that_ had gone.

The mood changed, however, and Sheena had no idea what they were in for when Lloyd finally put in, "Professor—erm, Raine—there's something we're going to need your help with."

--------

The schoolhouse seemed a curious place to call a meeting, but then again, seeing as it was the only deserted place in the entire village (Raine had dismissed class for the day) other than the professor's slightly unaccommodating abode, they all had figured it would have to do. The large table wasn't too bad either.

"So," Raine said vaguely, seating herself at what appeared to be the head. "So…" she echoed, her voice trailing off.

Lloyd cleared his throat. "It's kind of interesting, really. You see—"

"We're in kind of a tight situation," Sheena put in, noting that Lloyd was getting absolutely nowhere.

Genis bolted upright, practically shooting out of his seat. "Sweet Martel," he breathed, pointing at the ninja. "You're pregnant!"

The sound of Raine's hand cracking against the mage's skull emanated soundly through the abandoned classroom, which was probably fortunate as it drowned out the Mizuhoan curse word that Sheena had decided to shriek at that very moment. Genis would have wagered all the Gald in Zelos' fortune that the aura Sheena was giving off at the moment was darker even than that of Shadow's.

Once the air had calmed again and Zelos had stopped laughing, the conference resumed. Lloyd, seeing that his companion was hardly in any shape to talk (civilly, at least) at the moment, he took it upon himself to explain the situation.

"Actually, it's worse than that," he started, referring to Genis' previous comment, which drew a few more chuckles from the Tethe'allan Chosen. "As it turns out, we kinda turned the entire Imperial Army against us. Also, the king's probably passed a law by now saying that if any of us set foot in Meltokio again, we'll be arrested on sight."

Raine was taken aback by the news. Bad news was one thing, but she hadn't expected the two of them to make enemies of the entire kingdom. "And how," she breathed, trying to keep her voice level, "did this happen?"

"Well, you see," Sheena spoke up, finally finding her composure once more. She then related everything to the professor, starting with their arrival in the city. She recounted her chase across the rooftops after Lloyd's attempted assassination. All up to the point where she'd come across Annis in front of the castle.

"I see," Raine responded. She had her chin cupped in her hand, a pensive look on her face. "Something bothers me though…where does _he_ come in?" She gestured toward Zelos as though he were some sort of detestable object that the two had dragged in.

Lloyd coughed nervously. "Umm…well, we kind of broke him out of jail."

"_What!?"_ Raine's hands slammed down atop the table so hard that the entire room shook, causing the other five to jump. "Don't you two ever _think_? It's no wonder—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Zelos cut in rather bravely (Raine was looking murderous). "I haven't even explained _why_ I was so wrongly imprisoned."

"Oh yeah, that's right," said Sheena, glad for an excuse to turn the conversation away from the professor, "you never _did_ tell us about that."

Lloyd nodded. "I'll say. I kind of started attacking the guards before he could—_oof!_" Sheena's elbow in his ribs effectively cut him off.

"As I was saying," Zelos went on, "it all started on a rather innocent night. I'd invited that _muchacha picante _from the front desk at the Coliseum over to my mansion to celebrate my victories, and we were just beginning to—"

"ZELOS!"

"Okay, okay. My point is, right when we were in the middle of…things, my front door gets busted open and lo and behold, it's the Cardinal Knights. Well, I sort of had my pants off at the time—"

"You perverted—"

"It's true! I couldn't exactly fight back de-pantsed with Lilly—that was her name, by the way—running around screaming, so as far as the fight went, I kind of got manhandled—figuratively, of course—and thrown in prison. When I inquired as to the charges, they told me that a long-haired male with an Exsphere had been caught sneaking into the king's bedroom. They suspected an assassination attempt, and who to blame other than the only male in all of Meltokio with an Exsphere?"

A sort of shocked silence ensued. Sheena was agape at how similar his story sounded to her and Lloyd's own encounter. Genis was trying to imagine the implications of something like this. Colette was trying to quietly wake Lloyd, who had fallen asleep. As for Raine, she was just speechless. Her temperament remained a mystery, though if her expression was any indication, things weren't looking too good.

Surprisingly, Colette broke the silence after managing to snap Lloyd out of his boredom-induced stupor. "I think Lloyd and Sheena did the right thing."

Genis made a face and a distinct gagging noise. "No surprise there."

"I mean, Zelos was wrongly imprisoned!" the Chosen exclaimed indignantly. "Zelos would never try to kill the king…would you?" At this she appealed to the redhead himself, a look of defiant trust in her eyes.

From her viewpoint at least, it looked to Sheena as though Zelos were about to crack a snide joke, but unexpectedly his face was sincere as he replied, "Of course not."

"But if we assume it wasn't Zelos," Raine cut in, "then there's something missing. Who else in Meltokio would have an Exsphere?"

"Starsphere," Lloyd and Sheena corrected in unison.

Raine went and did a completely unrehearsed double-take. "What?"

"Not an Exsphere," Sheena continued. "That guy I chased after that one night…he mentioned something about a Starsphere. Then I saw him equipped with what looked like a snow-white Exsphere. I'm guessing that's what he was talking about."

The professor was already shaking her head. "That's impossible."

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to side with them on this one," Zelos assented.

"What's going on? What's impossible?" Colette inquired.

Genis nodded. "Yeah Raine, it's unlike you to completely dismiss a theory _before_ traveling all over the world in order to disprove it."

The professor shrugged. "It's common knowledge."

"Well apparently not so common—"

"Starspheres do not exist," Raine interjected sharply, startling everyone. "It is a myth. A fairy tale. An ancient legend."

"Well, we'd all be very interested in hearing about them," Sheena said.

Lloyd groaned, motioning as if to hang himself. "Great, a lecture…"

--------

"It's all here, if you really want to know," Raine commented as she selected a book off the shelf in a corner of the classroom. Her attitude was, truthfully, a bit strange to everyone else; to them it seemed almost as if she didn't want to talk about the subject at all. _"Raine? Miss a lecture? Where have you been?"_ Genis would say. "Although," she went on, "I doubt any of it holds any real substance."

Sheena sighed, a hint of impatience in her manner. "So what exactly are these Starspheres anyway?"

The half-elven professor flipped through the book deliberately, opening to a page near the back and laying the tome on her desk at the front for all to see. On the left page was a curious illustration, one of a starry night, one unhindered by clouds. However, the moon was replaced by a huge, glowing orb, decorated by what appeared to be an elaborate Key Crest. Rather unceremoniously, Raine began to paraphrase the text to the right of the illustration.

"Long ago, predating the Kharlan War," she began, "people utilized what they called Heavenstones. The people thought them to increase their spirituality, strengthening the link between gods and mortals. This was evidenced, in their eyes, by significant increases in strength and stamina, far beyond what any normal being could hope to achieve at that time. As far as recorded history goes, these were the first Exspheres."

The silence in the room was ghastly. The others hadn't really known what to expect, but to find out that Exspheres predated the Kharlan War…this already wasn't sounding altogether pleasant. Lloyd in particular wasn't looking too pleased.

The professor continued. "The people obtained these 'Heavenstones' by performing sacred rituals upon their deceased. Thus, by forming this cycle of turning the dead into a new, powerful life force, the people fashioned themselves an appropriate name: The Eterna."

"So wait," Lloyd cut in, "they didn't have to kill anyone for these?"

"No," Genis said as though he were talking to a five-year-old. "Deceased means dead."

"I know that—"

"You're correct Lloyd," Raine interjected, staving off an oncoming argument. "They didn't create these spheres through—well, in the same manner that Cruxis did, anyway. However, some ancient Heavenstones have been discovered and studied, and found to be nowhere near as powerful as today's Exspheres. The Eterna's practice of fabricating them from the already-deceased would explain this."

Zelos let loose a huge, overdone yawn. "All of this is cool and all, but what about Starspheres? A bunch of self-righteous bumpkins and their religious practices doesn't exactly explain why the entire kingdom wants my head."

Raine shot him a glare that, were it not for his overly-cool disposition, would have had him running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. "I'm getting to that." Pausing for a moment for the dramatic effect, she then continued. "This lasted for about a hundred years until they eventually discovered that much greater power could be harvested by offering the _wearer's_ life force to the crystal as well as the deceased. By fabricating a Heavenstone and then completely and utterly binding your soul to the stone as you attach it, it would theoretically evolve and become something much more potent even than an Exsphere. This is what the Eterna called a Starsphere."

Whatever shocked silence there was before didn't last long. Immediately the room erupted into a commotion, mostly out of confusion. Sheena was the first to speak up. "What do you mean, 'binding your soul'?" she demanded. "And just how would you do something like that?"

Raine managed to get the group under control again. Still speaking levelly, she said, "To bind your soul to the Starsphere meant to attach its existence to yours. If you are killed, then the stone ceases to exist. However, the side effect of this was that the converse is also true: should the stone ever be destroyed or even removed, then its wearer shall cease to exist. This bonding was done via a special Key Crest, one that was, appropriately enough, shaped like a five-pointed star."

Zelos whistled upon hearing this. "High stakes. What would the world do if someone like me simply vanished because of some stupid Star-thingy?"

Sheena shrugged. "Start believing in divine justice?"

"That was cold."

As the two continued to go at it, Genis said (loud enough to be heard over the commotion), "But what about his is so impossible?"

"Yeah," Lloyd agreed, speaking for the first time in a while. "I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to make a Key Crest like that." If it were worth anything at all, the swordsman was at least knowledgeable in dwarven technology.

Raine promptly snapped the gigantic tome shut and hurled it in Zelos' general direction, not waiting to see if it connected. "Well, that's the most important part. Apparently all of this energy from the Starspheres was too much to be contained, even in a special Key Crest. It became necessary to construct a sort of control mechanism, which would have to be forged of pure Aionis."

"So that's why," Colette observed. "Manipulating Aionis is an art that was discovered during the Kharlan War."

Raine nodded. "Exactly. And the Eterna were long extinct by then, completely wiped out by the preliminary conflict. There is no way they could have constructed a control mechanism sufficient to contain the Starspheres' power."

As soon as Zelos and Sheena had resolved their differences (at least for the moment), the two returned to the group, Zelos handing the book back to the professor while simultaneously rubbing his head where it had apparently landed. "But what does it all mean?" Sheena inquired after Raine had taken the time to fill them in. "There was still definitely a guy who attacked us, muttering something about Starspheres."

"Maybe he was drunk," Zelos put in.

Raine sighed. "At least we're staying positive."

--------

**A/N:** I know, I know. This chapter was probably just a _bit_ on the dry side. I didn't particularly have an easy time writing it, but it is what it is. And I do apologize for this being horribly overdue, but as mentioned in the foreword, I have been gone for a good amount of time (two trips, actually—one for a school function and one for college visits). I should probably tell you all, though, that I will be taking a break from this story so I can finish up my other project, tentatively titled _Tales of Flanoir_. So check that out when I get it finished (like I said, title is subject to change), and I will be back onto writing this as soon as I can.

Anyway, as I did find it difficult to write much of this chapter, I scrapped many a draft in the process. Here's one of my early ideas for one of the scenes, where Lloyd and Sheena just arrive in Iselia. I think I overplayed the joke in it a bit (which wasn't that good to begin with), which is why I ultimately didn't go with this version. But anyway…

"Wow Lloyd…it's been such a long time!" Genis was acting as if swordsman had just come back from fighting in the Kharlan War. "We've all missed you a lot."

"Don't worry," Sheena cut in confidently. "I've been looking after him."

Genis didn't seem to notice as he continued questioning the swordsman interrogation-style. "So what kinds of places have you been to? Have you run into anymore Exspheres?"

"Sure," Lloyd commented. "In fact—"

"Did you see Presea?" Genis cut in, not bothering to let Lloyd finish.

"Actually," Sheena replied, "we didn't—"

"Uh-huh," Genis nodded as if he'd actually heard a coherent answer. "That's good."

Sheena sighed. "So you know, we were a little short on cash, so I went and borrowed some from the king's treasury."

"Great!" Genis chimed, eager to ask ever more questions. "Did you get attacked?"

"But that wasn't enough," Sheena continued, clearly enjoying the half-elf's frenzied state of oblivion, "so I went and pillaged Heimdall. I have the elder's head in my wing-pack, if you'd like to see."

_Etc…_

Now that I see it, that version kind of makes Genis look like some brain-dead fanboy. Oh well. That's what revisions are for, I suppose.


End file.
